Installation

[AlexanderBB]

I think i have Visual Studio/Basic 2010 on my computer but have not used it for about 8 years.
I could not find it, so tried to reinstall. Unfortunately the person who set this up for me and was my helper is deceased and I'm on my own.
I'd like to convert an old VB6 program to this platform (and fully expect it to be challenging, but am retired so plenty of time).

Getting started failed, possibly I don't have everything needed? Or it's not in the right place.

The setup program is in F:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 Express \
Running it shows these errors. (I said No to Silverlight and SQL Server.)

Setup did not attempt to install the following components:
V0 10.0 Runtime (364)
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express Prerequisites 364
.NET Framework 4 Multi-Targeting Pack
Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 Express - ENU
Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 (386) ENU
Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 (364) ENU
Visual Studio 2010 Tools for SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 ENU
Microsoft SQL Server System CLR Types
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Management Objects
Microsoft 1ufisual Studio 2010 ADO.NET Entity' Framework Tools
Microsoft Help Viewer 1.0 364

My only prompt after this was "Exit" and the instillation folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\) was not created.

Any help with this much appreciated.

[passel]

I wouldn't try to install the VB 2010 Express version.
You may as well go for the current Visual Studio 2022 Community version, as it is free so if your hardware supports it, you should as well.
The main issue is that Visual Studio can support so many environments and languages and technologies that it can be hard to pick what you want to install for a "simple" Visual Basic 6.0 port/upgrade path.

Most likely you'll want to pick Desktop Development using the .Net Framework ( not .Net Core). .Net core is the latest thing, but it is designed to support multiple platforms, i.e. Linux and Macs, as well as Windows, so is quite a different animal compared to VB 2010, which used the 4.0 .Net Framework.
So, if you want to stick with that paradigm, then choosing VS 2022 and the .Net framework workload will default to the latest 4.x framework.

You can probably follow some guidelines, like this link.

[AlexanderBB]

Thanks very much, sound good. I'll do that and see how I get on.

[2kaud]

Note that the current version of VS2022 (17.7) won't install for Windows versions before Windows 10. If you use Windows 7/8 then you need the older VS2022 17.6 or VS2019.

If you have VB6 programs, have you considered twinBasic? See https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....releases/page3

[techgnome]

have you considered twinBasic? See https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....releases/page3

Excuse me Brother, but have you heard about our Lord and Savriour, TwinBasic? Hast thou a few moments to discuss?

Sorry, but that's what ran through my head when I read that.

Joking aside, TB is definately an option.

-tg

[sapator]

2022 is a bugfield.
IMHO 2019 would be preferable, unless 2022 has some extra useful features that I'm not aware of.
And then probably update to 2024 as MS tend to go one good one bad version.

[sapator]

Excuse me Brother, but have you heard about our Lord and Savriour, TwinBasic? Hast thou a few moments to discuss?

Sorry, but that's what ran through my head when I read that.

Joking aside, TB is definately an option.

-tg

Would be good if a certain person stating with NI and ending with YA would be here to set you straight!

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'm not quite as certain about TB. It's certainly coming along, but the choice isn't an easy one, at this point. The actual release has not yet happened, though it is coming soon. However, it's a paid system. If you want to support TB as the only viable replacement to VB6, then you should definitely be paying in. If you are working on a commercial application and continuing with VB6 makes sense, then you should also be paying into TB. It won't succeed without people buying in.

However, if you are working on a hobby project, then the free VS Community Edition makes more sense. Yes, you are moving to a different language, which will require a significant port, which will be essentially a re-write where some of the code can be copied and pasted with small changes and most will need to be re-thought and re-written. However, it is free and backed by a large and stable corporation. My biggest concern with TB is that it rests on one set of shoulders. Very capable shoulders, to be sure, but still just one set. This is a field that is vulnerable to change in general, but that's a bit much, for my tastes.

In the case of VS, I wouldn't be quite so hesitant to go with Core over framework. Yes, it can be made multi-platform, but it doesn't HAVE to be, and if it is not, then it feels virtually the same as framework, to me (at least the language does). It seems to be the way things are headed, currently.

[2kaud]

However, it's a paid system

From twinBasic

"the 32-bit Windows version of the project will be available completely free of charge. Developers that need to build 64-bit binaries will either need to purchase a licence or endure a 5-second twinBASIC splash screen when their applications start."

https://twinbasic.com/preview.html

[Shaggy Hiker]

That's good. I guess I haven't been keeping up with it. A while back, it appeared that the actual release would be a subscription based product. I don't have a problem with that, considering they need to get their feet under them, though I felt it a bit high. This seems like a much better approach that will lead to stronger adoption.

[AlexanderBB]

I've installed 2022 now so may as well continue with it. Everything's new so a big learning curve whichever way. This is the "free VS Community version" recommended by passel and ShaggyHiker ?
I didn't get too far... am at 'Create a Project' and wondering which one to choose. A YouTube video showed different options, something about "console"
but here everything starts with "WPF". And ShaggyHiker, what's "Core over framework" ?
Failing and further advice (and TIA) I'll keep YouTubing and attempt to get somewhere. Anything real basic would be useful. A Form and Msgbox "Hello" would do.

[jdc2000]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vi...f?view=vs-2022

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vi...22#what-is-wpf

[AlexanderBB]

Looks just what's needed jdc, thank you.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yeah, VS is becoming an everything IDE. They keep adding languages (and dropping a few, too). That results in a bewildering array of different project options. I can find them hard to keep straight, so I can only imagine how tough it would be starting out in that after coming from a version that had very few options (or just one, for VB6).

I would not start with WPF, though, which appears to be what both of the links jdc showed were. WPF is pretty awesome, but it's also radically different from what you are used to. If you want to have some spectacular graphics, WPF is a good way to go. Complicated graphical effects, bindings, and so on, are really the forte of WPF. All of that can be done with WinForms, though often not as easily.

WinForms is much more what you are used to, and unless you really want the graphical complexity of WPF, then I'd suggest that you stick with that. Overall, I find it easier to use, and oddly, quicker. WPF should have better performance, since it uses the GPU to render forms, but that hasn't been my experience. It's good, and better than WinForms for showing graphically complex images, but it seems slower to show forms. That may be because of what I'm doing to set up the form.

In any case, a Windows Forms App is the project type you are looking for, most likely. And just to make things even more wonderful, there are no less than TWO Windows Forms App options for you to choose from:
Windows Forms App and Windows Forms App (.NET Framework). That's where the Core comes into the discussion.

The names have become a total mess, in my opinion. Starting in 2002, all .NET was Framework (.NET Framework). Different version of VS targeted different versions of the framework, which were (I may be missing some): 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.7.2, 4.8.

The frameworks were a bit of a nuisance, as you had to be sure that the target computer had them, but MS started pushing the frameworks out as updates, and then they started being included in the OS. Win10 or Win11, will have them all, so there isn't any need to worry about whether the computer has the right framework.

Then, just as that was settling down, MS came out with .NET Core. This was somewhat different, didn't use the framework, and had a few different versions of it's own...and then things got worse. The naming conventions at this point can get so bizarre that I honestly don't understand the nuances of all of them. There was .NET 5, which was replaced by .NET 6, and .NET 7 is in the works. Core became this 5/6/7, though something else came into it that hasn't mattered to me.

At this point, you really have two alternatives. One is Framework, in which case you will target either Framework 4.7.2 or 4.8 (though there might be one beyond that, as well). For some reason, if you target Framework, it seems to default to 4.7.2, though that may only be an earlier version of VS. I see no reason not to target 4.8, but also no big advantage of 4.8 over 4.7.2, so if you go with whatever the default is, that's fine. That doesn't matter for the project type, though. The project type is Windows Forms .NET Framework.

The other option will target .NET 6. Unfortunately, this has no good way to refer to it. You can't say, ".NET not Framework", and it isn't REALLY .NET Core, especially since that Core has been completely dropped from the name...though the concepts behind .NET Core are incorporated into .NET 5/6/7/etc. Therefore, this is Windows Forms .NET, and will almost certainly default to .NET 6.

So what's the difference between Framework and .NET 6? If what you are doing is a Windows desktop application, I have seen only one real difference, and it's in a VERY obscure part of the language: Dynamically loading DLLS uses different methodology.

Therefore, I would recommend going with the Windows Forms .NET project type, but hopefully there are other opinions.

[AlexanderBB]

My VB6 project is pretty basic, some class modules, two Forms; one with a Listview (which I hoped might an existing control in the newer version).
There's no graphics and I have Win 10 but would like this to run in XP as well.
I remember VS2010 used a very nice colored code entry screen, that'd be useful.
I'll go with your recommendations for Windows Forms .NET project type, assuming Google finds it for me and there's some startup info. It will compile and run on another computer?)
Thanks.

[jdc2000]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vi...o?view=vs-2022

https://help.qlik.com/en-US/sense-de...HelloWorld.htm

[AlexanderBB]

I'm not getting very far... have I the right program for Windows Forms .NET ?
One of the links talks about Qlik .Net SDK and other Visual Studio 2022. But mine opens saying Blend for Visual Studio 2022.
The instructions look good but would be reassuring to have the same thing they show.

[PlausiblyDamp]

The VS installation installs more than a single application, Blend is just one of them. If you either search the start menu for visual studio, or scroll down far enough you will find visual studio.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Visual Studio used to be a single, monolithic, program with a few different languages in it. That's not the case anymore. VS is now essentially an installer into which you can add a wide (and growing) number of packages. You can add more after initial install, too. It is possible that you didn't add the right one when you did the initial install, but it's been too long since I've done an install for me to provide anything more specific than that.